You can’t tell it from the temperature, but summer is starting to wind down now, and the farmers market season is just getting ready to gear up.  Yep, here in the desert Southwest, the fall and winter are prime growing season.

This morning we went to the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market to pick up some fresh produce and take a few photos.  The market is located at the corner of Central Avenue and Pierce Avenue, near the old Westward Ho hotel.

Westward Ho Hotel

It’s been a long time since I’ve just taken the camera out for a spin without a tripod or extra lenses.  Today, it was just the kit lens (18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G zoom) with the camera on a strap around my neck.

Part of the market was in full sunlight (at 8:45 in the morning the light is already harsh), but most of the market is shaded under canopies of one sort or another.  So the lighting can be a bit tricky, as I found out after taking  a few photos and then realizing that I needed to bump up the ISO setting.

I loved the colors of the vegetables, especially when they were displayed on a table with a black cover:

Summer Squash

I’ve uploaded the best of today’s shots to my Flickr page in a set titled “Phoenix Farmers Market“.  I hope you’ll hop on over there and take a look…don’t blame me if they make you hungry!